Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

carbon tetrachloride

(Encyclopedia)carbon tetrachloride tĕˌtrəklôrˌəmĕthˈān [key], CCl4, colorless, poisonous, liquid organic compound that boils at 76.8℃. It is toxic when absorbed through the skin or when inhaled. It react...

North Las Vegas

(Encyclopedia)North Las Vegas, city (1990 pop. 47,707), Clark co., SE Nev., a residential suburb of Las Vegas; inc. 1946. Tourism is the economic mainstay of this growing suburb. The city's population more than tri...

Beard, James

(Encyclopedia)Beard, James, 1903–85, American cooking teacher and cookbook author, b. Portland, Oreg. His interest in food was encouraged by his mother, who had been a hotel proprietor. He was a syndicated column...

parasite

(Encyclopedia)parasite, plant or animal that at some stage of its existence obtains its nourishment from another living organism called the host. Parasites may or may not harm the host, but they never benefit it. T...

malnutrition

(Encyclopedia)malnutrition, insufficiency of one or more nutritional elements necessary for health and well-being. Primary malnutrition is caused by the lack of essential foodstuffs—usually vitamins, minerals, or...

cooking

(Encyclopedia)cooking, the process of using heat to prepare foods for consumption. Many common cooking methods involve the use of oil. Frying is cooking in hot oil; sautéing is cooking in a small amount of oil; st...

botulism

(Encyclopedia)botulism bŏchˈəlĭzˌəm [key], acute poisoning resulting from ingestion of food containing toxins produced by the bacillus Clostridium botulinum. The bacterium can grow only in an anaerobic atmosp...

recycling

(Encyclopedia)recycling, the process of recovering and reusing waste products—from household use, manufacturing, agriculture, and business—and thereby reducing their burden on the environment. During World War ...

cortex

(Encyclopedia)cortex, in botany, term generally applied to the outer soft tissues of the leaves, stems, and roots of plants. Cortical cells of the leaves and outer layers of nonwoody stems contain chloroplasts, and...

frozen foods

(Encyclopedia)frozen foods, products of the food preservation process of freezing. This process has been employed by people in the Arctic from prehistoric times. Eskimos throw fresh-caught fish on the ice to freeze...